波斯帝国的“专制”与“集权”

Despotism and Centralized State Power in the Persian Empire

本文从古典著作和波斯帝国的文献出发,讨论它的统治方式及其特征,指出波斯大王掌控着对所有重要官职的任命以及财政资源,以书信指导着行省总督的管理,据此控制着贵族的命运,确有专制自为的意味。但作为波斯国王,国王权力的行使,较多地取决于国王个人的能力和意愿,他缺乏从中央到地方一以贯之的官僚系统支持,总督在军事、内政和对外政策上大体自主,较少受到国王的具体干涉。而在地方共同体中,虽然法律上国王和总督拥有无限权力,其命运有时会被国王与总督左右,但在日常管理中,它们大体自治,由此造成了波斯帝国统治中国王的专制与地方自治合作的特征,两者的结合,是帝国得以长期维持的基本原因。这种现象的产生,很大程度上与古代国家的统治能力以及波斯作为一个征服性帝国有关,因此,波斯帝国的中央集权基本停留在意识形态层面,而实际的政治运作,需要更有效率的地方自治。

This paper deals with the rule of the Persian Empire based on the classical and Persian documents.On the one hand, the Persian kings appointed all the important offi cials, controlled all the fi nancial sources of the empire, directed the provincial affairs via letters, and made decisions on the fate of the Persian aristocrats. Meanwhile, the power of the kings largely depended on their personal ability and intention, lacking a necessary bureaucratic system from the central to the rural levels. The provincial governors were autonomous in military, internal administration and diplomatic affairs. The communities under the satrapies were also autonomous in their daily administration. Therefore, the Persian Empire was a unit which combined the absolute monarch with the local communities. It is mainly the result of the rule ability of the ancient states and nature of Persian conquest. In sum, the centralization of power in the Persian Empire is ideological to a great extent and the daily administration depends on the local autonomy.